SWNOVELS Chapter 6 Grounded
So, I got up from the couch and marched to the left of this very long hallway, where I had to try and find my room without any help whatsoever. Somehow, I managed to find Gary’s room only because it was the only Dark Green colored room throughout the whole house. I only found it because I had almost opened every single door of this house. But before I could even enter my room, something strange caught my eye at the end of the hallway. I walked away just as my hand was on the knob and headed down the hall. What I found to be strange was actually just an old framed family photo standing perfectly still on a table, almost like an elf on a shelf.
There was nothing special about the photo either, just three kids, especially one boy, one girl standing right next to each other, one taller than the other. Now those two were standing in front of a fireplace. But there’s one little girl who was in front of the two kids that was all alone. She wasn’t really alone, though, as she had two older siblings who were standing right behind her. What made this photo stand out from all the rest of the photos in this hallway is how I felt drawn to it, somehow like I could hear the children’s distinct laughter and voices calling out to me. I don’t know why I felt so drawn to it. I mean, it was just a family photo after all ...maybe there was something more to it, but I guess we’ll never know the real reason.
As I took the framed photo from the table to analyze it more, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself quietly at how much this little boy resembled Gary; it was almost like looking at a mirror. Then it clicked for me that this wasn’t just a resemblance or a weird coincidence, but the little boy was Gary, so the two girls must be his sisters. This must mean that Gary is the middle child of this family.... Great.
I put the framed photo back on the table and looked at it one last time before leaving and heading back to Gary’s room. When I got to his door, I slowly opened it and took a peek inside but couldn’t see anything at first other than a silhouette of a bed and closet, but when I turned the lights on, his whole room just illuminated. I could now see everything from his radio clock on his nightstand to the old metal cars and trucks on his shelf.
As I’m messing around with his drawers looking for something….anything to keep my mind off from being “grounded,” I found what appeared to be a rolled-up magazine or comic book. So, without thinking, I unrolled it and noticed that it wasn’t either, but instead, an adult magazine. How did he even get a hold of this? But without skipping a beat, I rolled it back up and stuffed it back where I found it, ran and closed the door so nobody could see me looking or reading it so as not to get into more trouble. After that little scare, I was so beat that I just laid on the bed with the most purely exhausted look on my face but laying on that bed felt like I was laying on a rock.
While figuring out how to get comfy on this bed, I heard my door creak open, and when I looked, I saw this little girl with light brown pigtails appear out of nowhere. I was shocked for a second but quickly figured out that this must be the little girl in that photo I saw earlier, and she was not a little girl anymore. She looks way older than she did in the photo now. Maybe aged four or five years tops. But all I could say to her at that moment was, “What do you want?”
“Nothing really, other than to let you know that mom told me to come get you from your room cause dinner’s ready.”
“Great. I’ll be there, just give me a minute, will ya? There’s something I need to take care of real quick,” as I closed the door on her. The main reason I did that to her was to walk around the room and decide right here, right now, whether or not I should leave this place and find the fog on my own by climbing out of the bedroom window or just suffer the consequences by talking to strangers who consider me “family.”
I thought about it for a while and decided that you know what... I made it this far without messing up Gary’s life too badly, so why give up now? With this thought in mind, I opened the door and exited with confidence as I headed to the unknown, where my fake family currently resided in the dining room waiting for me.